Zawrat from Five Lakes

Zawrat from Five Lakes is the blue trail out of the valley, not the gully from Hala Gąsienicowa. The pass is the same (2,158 m). There are no chains on this side.

The tiles and map are the ascent: 11.3 km, 4 h 45 min, 1,265 m up. The map does not count the descent. You return the same way to Palenica or — on purpose — go down the gully to Gąsienicowa and finish in Kuźnice.

Trail description

Start at Palenica Białczańska. Red to Wodogrzmoty.

1. Roztoka (green, about 1 h 30 min from Wodogrzmoty): As on the Valley of Five Lakes page. Forest, stream, then steeper.
2. The hut (black, about 40 min): The map skips Siklawa from below. You are above Przedni Staw before hour three. Apple pie is not the turning point of the day — but if someone is finished, Zawrat can wait.
3. To the pass (blue, about 1 h 50 min from the hut): A footbridge, Zagon Niżni, junctions for Krzyżne, Kozi Wierch and Szpiglas. You do not take yellow to Szpiglas. Blue climbs scree under the wall of Świnica. No chains. Steep and long, not exposed.
4. Zawrat: A narrow notch, the Virgin Mary figure. South: sun and the lakes you came from. North: the shade of Gąsienicowa and the gully you do not descend unless that was the plan.

You leave the red trail onto Orla Perć. The one-way section to Kozi Wierch is another page, not “since we are already here”.

Panorama

From the pass, Five Lakes lie at your feet, Wołoszyn to the side, Miedziane and Szpiglas opposite. One of the cleanest views in the Polish High Tatras — without the queue for chains on the other side.

Warnings

• No chains — until someone turns onto Orla or goes down the gully to Gąsienicowa.
• Snow: the south side clears faster than New Zawrat. In June a patch can still sit there. Summer shoes do not go onto hard snow.
• Storms: the pass is a notch in the ridge. Dark clouds mean you go down to the hut, not “Świnica as well”.
• Fitness: 1,265 m from Palenica. The valley is not a warm-up before the “real” Zawrat. This is the real Zawrat, just from the easier side.

Descent and logistics

The map ends on the pass. Two returns that make sense:

• The same way to Palenica — the car is waiting. The knees get Roztoka a second time. A full day, not half.
• The gully to Gąsienicowa — chains, rungs, the other page. You need a bus from Kuźnice. You do not go down there “because from above it looks shorter”.

Palenica parking, TPN ticket, no dogs. Water at the hut. Nothing on the scree below the pass.

Segment times (ascent)

From the map:

• Palenica – Wodogrzmoty: 45 min
• Wodogrzmoty – hut: 2 h 10 min
• Hut – Niżnie Solnisko: 35 min
• Solnisko – Zawrat: 1 h 15 min

4 h 45 min is walking time up. Descent to Palenica 3.5–4 h. A holiday day is 8–9 hours.

Other approaches

• From Hala Gąsienicowa — New Zawrat, chains, snow until July, descent into Five Lakes.
• Orla Perć — do not glue it onto this page.

In winter

Blue from Five Lakes can be avalanche terrain. The hut is there; the pass is not a “safe extra on a valley walk”. If you do not read the notice and do not carry a winter kit, leave Zawrat for summer.

Who this is not for

Not for someone who is already counting in Roztoka that “the pass is close to the hut”. From the lakes it is still almost two hours up. Not with a pushchair. Not onto Orla from this page.

If you only want the lakes and Siklawa, stay on the Valley of Five Lakes page. Zawrat starts on blue after the Szpiglas junction, not at apple pie.